Introduction

MS Dhoni is counted among one of the most distinguished names in cricket. Before developing an interest in cricket, Dhoni used to play as a goalkeeper for DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir school football team. Witnessing his superb goalkeeping skills, coach Keshab Ranjan Banerjee selected him to keep wickets and play cricket for the school team. 

During his teenage years, his wonderful wicket-keeping skills helped him to get picked as a wicket-keeper batter in the Commando Cricket Club. After doing wonders at club cricket, he played in the Vinoo Mankad trophy Under-16 Championship as well.

MS Dhoni's Career Information:

Test Debut: India vs Sri Lanka at MA Chidambaram Stadium, December 02-06, 2005
ODI Debut: Bangladesh vs India at MA Aziz Stadium, December 23, 2004
T20I Debut: South Africa vs India at The Wanderers Stadium, December 1, 2006

Teams: India, Air India Blue, Asia XI, Bihar, Bradman XI, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), East Zone, East Zone Under-19s, Help for Heroes XI, India A, India Seniors, India Board President’s XI, International XI, Jharkhand, Jharkhand Under-19s, Rajasthan Cricket Association President’s XI, Rest of India, Rising Pune Supergiants, & Sehwag XI

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the most successful names in the history of cricket. The legendary cricketer achieved phenomenal records for India in his almost 15 years of career with dedication and diligence. With his batting, wicket-keeping, and captaincy, he served his national team in an efficient manner. 

Early Career:

MS Dhoni was born to Pan Singh and Devaki Devi in Ranchi, Bihar (now in Jharkhand). During his school days, Dhoni’s coach Keshab Ranjan Banerjee pulled him away from football and asked him to take up cricket. In his initial days, he built a reputation of demolishing bowling attacks with his ferocious batting style. Despite performing well at the state level, Dhoni couldn’t go to the next level as more A-lister cricketers were chosen ahead of him. 

After facing a snub despite doing well, he took up the job of a ticket collector at the Kharagpur Railways Station in West Bengal. With this move, he also got a chance to join the Railways Ranji team. However, after a few months, Dhoni grabbed the attention of scouts who were tasked to organize a country-wide Training Research Development Wing from the Board of Control for Cricket in India to pick talented cricketers from financially backward states. With this development, he got selected to represent India A team that toured Kenya in 2004. In the series, he batted excellently and impressed everyone with his power-hitting might.

International Debut:

In December 2004, the selectors picked him in the ODI team for India’s tour of Bangladesh. However, his debut game didn’t go well as he got run out for a duck. Despite Dhoni’s average show against Bangladesh, he got a chance in the ODI series against Pakistan at home in April 2005. Playing the second match of the series in Visakhapatnam, he played a stunning knock of 148 runs off just 123 deliveries. With this innings, he cemented his place in the ODI team. Later, in October, Dhoni showed his power again as he played arguably the best ODI innings of his career, scoring 183* runs off 145 balls against Sri Lanka in Jaipur.

Captaincy:

In 2007, during India’s tour of England, Sachin Tendulkar was offered the role to lead India. However, instead of accepting the responsibility, Master Blaster recommended Dhoni’s name. In the inaugural edition of the 2007 T20 World Cup, the selectors gave him the opportunity to lead the side. Holding the captaincy mantle for the first time, he proved his leadership skills by winning the title.

Considering his scintillating performance as a skipper, he was appointed full-time captain of the Indian team in white-ball cricket. After showcasing his leadership mettle in the T20I format, Dhoni looked brilliant with his captaincy in the ODI format as well. In 2008, holding the reins of the team, Dhoni helped the team to clinch the tri-series in Australia with Sri Lanka being the third team.

After Anil Kumble’s retirement from all forms of cricket in November 2008, Dhoni became the captain of the team in all forms. Under his phenomenal leadership, India became the number 1 Test team in December 2009. In 2011, Dhoni got appreciated for his incredible batting and leadership skills as he contributed to the team’s World Cup triumph at home and joined the league of World Cup-winning captains. 

Lean Patch & Redemption:

After the famous World Cup victory, Dhoni’s captaincy came under scrutiny after humiliating overseas Test series losses in England and Australia. Following the Test series defeat in England, India also lost their title as the number 1 Test side in the world. In 2012, things got worse for Dhoni as the team lost to England at home by a 1-2 margin. Observing his dismal performance as a Test captain, his critics got a chance to raise fingers at him. In 2013, Dhoni replaced senior players with youngsters and revamped the side. Utilising the spectacular spirit of youngsters, Dhoni led the nation to its second ICC Champions Trophy title (India jointly shared the title in 2002 with hosts Sri Lanka). 

Extraordinary IPL Journey:

In the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, the love story between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) began. The franchise grabbed him for an enormous sum of INR 6 crore. In the maiden season of the league, he led CSK to the final but lost to Rajasthan Royals (RR).
 
Although RR won the title, Dhoni left an impact on the competition with his leadership talent. In 2010, the dashing wicket-keeper batter showcased his captaincy skills in the IPL as well. With the final match win against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 2010 competition, Dhoni started CSK’s dominance in the tournament. In 2011, his franchise defended its title successfully after routing Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) comfortably in the final. So far, Captain Cool has bagged five IPL trophies for his franchise with exceptional leadership and batting talent.

Retirement:

In the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Dhoni brought the curtain down on his Test career after helping India drew the Boxing day Test in Melbourne. After the Test retirement, he captained the ODI side in the 2015 World Cup but couldn’t retain the trophy. On January 4, 2017, he handed the captaincy mantle to Virat Kohli after resigning as India’s white-ball skipper.

At the age of 37, he appeared in India’s 2019 World Cup squad which marked his last appearance in international cricket. During the tournament, he came under fierce criticism for his underwhelming strike rate against Afghanistan and England. On August 15, 2020, Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket after almost 15 years of his remarkable career.

MS Dhoni's Personal Life:

MS Dhoni is married to Sakshi Singh Rawat since 2010 and the couple has a daughter named Ziva Dhoni. Before tying the knot, Dhoni and Sakshi dated each other. He is also an avid supporter of the Indian Army and in July 2019, he spent a day with the parachute regiment in Ranchi. While spending time with soldiers, he also said that since childhood, he wanted to join the Army.